A vehicle wanted in connection with a carjacking and fatal shooting in Old Mill Creek was chased from the north suburb all the way to the Near West Side Tuesday, culminating in the arrests of five people in total.
About 1:15 a.m., Lake County sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of an attempted carjacking in the 17600 block of West Edwards Road in Old Mill Creek, Lake County sheriff’s spokesman Christopher Covelli said. The caller told police he had shot at the people who tried to rob him of his vehicle.
Shortly after, the occupants of a black Lexus flagged down officers investigating a crash at Route 132 and Hunt Club Road in Gurnee to tell them someone in their vehicle needed medical attention, Covelli said. After getting an injured male, who had been shot, out of their vehicle, four of the other occupants got back into the Lexus and fled onto Interstate 94.
The male was taken to Condell Medical Center in Libertyville where he was pronounced dead, Covelli and Gurnee fire officials said. One person who stayed behind with the shooting victim was taken into custody at the scene.
State police were brought into the pursuit about 1:45 a.m. after Lake County sheriff’s deputies notified them that the Lexus was traveling southbound over 100 mph on I-94 near Dempster Street, Covelli and Illinois State Police said.
The pursuit ended about 15 minutes later when the Lexus stopped near Randolph and Halsted Streets on the Near West Side, state police said. After a short foot chase, the other four suspects were taken into custody.
One suspect was found hiding in a dumpster by the award-winning police dog K9 Dax and his handler, Deputy John Forlenza, Covelli said.
